WASHINGTON: The United States should build a “cooperative and trusting” relationship with Pakistan, where both countries pursue the goal to eliminate terrorism as their major effort, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said.

“What we’ve got to do is build a trusting relationship where we both understand that our major effort has to be to end terrorism, period,” he said. Panetta described US-Pakistan relationship as complicated but opposed disengagement from the Pakistan-Afghanistan region.

Panetta’s remarks in a CNN interview sounded a soft tone in contrast with last month’s rhetoric emanating from Washington, which appeared to threaten bilateral ties over the Haqqani militant group.

The defence secretary said Washington has asked Pakistan to make sure there is no safe haven for Afghan militants on its soil but refused to characterise Mike Mullen’s assertion on Pakistan’s alleged links with the Haqqanis as institutional support for militants.

“Well, I don’t really — I don’t know that for a fact,” he said, when asked if Pakistan’s alleged cooperation with the Haqqanis goes to the top level of their intelligence organisation.

Mullen’s assertions in a Congressional testimony days before his retirement that the Haqqanis served as a “veritable arm” of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) triggered a crisis in US-Pakistan ties.

“What I do know is that, as we have made clear, the Haqqanis have a safe haven in Pakistan. And you can’t have a safe haven. These are individuals who cross over, into Afghanistan, and kill Americans. These are terrorists. And then they return back to Pakistan to that safe haven,” claimed Panetta, who served as CIA Director before becoming secretary of defence.

“What we’ve urged the Pakistanis to do is to take action, to make sure that that safe haven does not exist. That’s the message we’ve given to them.”

Continuing, Panetta observed, “the Pakistanis — I realise, they try to maintain some relationships with some of these individuals. I realise that, you know, they are concerned about how they protect their own country.”

“But, we have got to build a cooperative relationship with them,” he added.

Panetta opposed the idea of US disengaging from the Pakistan-Afghanistan region.

“We can’t afford to do that (disengaging from the region). It’s been a complicated relationship with Pakistan. But the reality is that terrorism as much a threat to Pakistan as it is to the United States. As a matter of fact, they have lost thousands of people because of terror attacks in places like Karachi and elsewhere.”

“And they — they understand the threat of terrorism. But they also can’t pick and choose among terrorists. If you’re against terrorism, you’ve got to be against all terrorism. And that’s where we have some differences.”

It's enough that I know, Our time had a home, In your heart..Was a place..But the glass always breaks..